This past Monday the Boise State University Bronco football team created a moment and a memory that will live long in the minds of the team, the school and college football history. Boise State had finished the regular football season 12-0, ranked No. 9 in the country. They were selected to play the University of Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Oklahoma was heavily favored and some questioned whether or not Boise State even belonged on the same field much less in a bowl game against Oklahoma. The Broncos proved they belonged not only on the field and in the bowl game, finishing the regulation time by tying the Sooners 35-35.

In overtime Oklahoma scored first and made the score 42-35. Then with time running out the Broncos scored and made it 42-41. Head Coach Chris Peterson had the chance of a lifetime--kick the extra point and go into another overtime with a tie or go for two and win the game. You kick it you still have another chance to win. You go for two and don’t make it you will be remembered as the coach who blew it. But if you make it you will go down in college football history. So with only seconds left, Peterson made the decision to go for two, using one of the oldest trick plays in football. The extra point was good and Boise State defeated Oklahoma 43-42 and went into college football history.

That moment of decision was crucial. It was either do or die. Again, you win you are a hero, you lose and well it’s not so good. The coach had to decide to seize the moment or let it go– he seized the moment. That moment of sports history doesn’t bring world peace but it is a moment that that Boise State will always remember. You see "moments" matter regardless of how significant or insignificant they may seem to us, they count. They count because you never know that you will have another chance. You don’t know that a moment like the one before you will ever come again so it is imperative that you seize the moment of decision. Moments can determine our destiny either positively or negatively. We just can’t waste the moments that God gives us—this day, this week, this month or this year.

As I thought and prayed about what God wanted me to say as we start this next year the words "Seize the moment" came to my mind. It was a way to put into perspective the opportunities before us this year. This year is our year to make certain that we seize the moments that God has given to us. We have so much for which we should be excited about and grateful. Yet this year is critical because it offers us opportunities that may not come again for a long time. So this morning I want to just talk to you about what I believe are the challenges and opportunities that we will face this year as a church. This is just my heart to your heart and what I believe God wants me to share with you.

As I searched the scriptures I was reminded of a critical moment that the early church and its leaders faced in Acts 6:1-7. Why was this moment critical for the early church? It was critical because if the church failed to seize this moment they would endanger the progress and growth that God was bringing. If they made the changes that needed to be made then the growth would continue. This moment mattered because the eternities of people were at stake. Therefore it was vital that they seize the moment. Prior to this event in Acts 6 the scripture records 3000 were baptized in one day (Acts 2:41). Then it records that people were added each day. Then 5000 men not including women and children were added (Acts 4:4). Acts 5:14 says "more and more believed" and Acts 5:42 describes how "everyday…" people were being saved and added to the body of new believers. They were enjoying staggering growth in numbers, influence and effectiveness!

Acts 6:1 relates though that a problem occurred internally that threatened the future expansion and purpose of the church. A feeding program had developed to provide for the widows of the church and evidently human jealousy came into play that made one group feel left out. This disagreement threatened the focus of the leadership from the key task that Jesus gave them. The apostles were told in Acts 1:8 to share the message of salvation and to deepen the lives of those who believed. Acts 2:41-47 describes the process that they used: tell the story, develop believers, build community and repeat that cycle over and over. They knew that if the leadership lost focus then the power of God, the purpose of the church, and the process of growth were in jeopardy. Therefore they had to make a critical course correction or they would lose the momentum that God’s Spirit had given to them.

Why is this year critical for our church? God has blessed us in this calendar year with 61 people baptized into our church, 57 people joining us from other churches and you gave over $2 million to the budget and over $800,000 to our building program. We averaged 768 in Sunday School in our church year and about the same for worship. That is something for which we should be very grateful to God.

Our decision to stay downtown was the right decision and we are facing the challenges of that decision. Statistically, downtown churches grow by maintaining. Staying between 750-800 in Sunday School is "maintaining." With Jonesboro growing and changing, we made the choice to say it is wrong to be content with maintaining as a church. The new Educational Ministries Center has been our response to God’s voice to shape the future of our church and impact our community. You realized that there are people all around us who need to be reached for Christ and those who have been reached need a community of Christ. A moment like this has come at great sacrifice for our membership. Moments like this do not happen often in a downtown church. Moments like this will not happen again for many, many years. Our new building is more than a structure; it is a statement of faith that shapes the future of our congregation. Critical moments require critical strategy. That’s what the leadership did in Acts 6. That is what we must do this year.

What did they do that seized the moment that God gave them and what must we do to seize the moment that God has given us?

Secure the ministers: When you look at Acts 6:1-3 you see that the leaders recognized that if the growth were to continue they had to get the right people to take care of what needed to be done. They said, "Now look around among yourselves…and select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. We will put them in charge of this business." (v.3). They needed leaders to meet specific needs.

2006 has been a year where we had several transitions in our ministerial leadership. At times you needed a scorecard to keep up with who was who and where they were serving. People who have served us in interim capacities some of whom have transitioned to those positions full time have blessed us. We still have two positions that are waiting to be filled in collegiate ministry and our education ministry. We have persons who are serving those needs on an interim basis and the committees are working and praying yet we need permanent leaders to serve those specific needs. Why is this important? It is important because leadership is essential to stability, growth and effectiveness. As we move into this new year we must seize the moment and secure the ministers that God is calling to lead us at this critical time.

Simplify the ministries: In Acts 6:1-4, the leadership recognized that they could not be all things to all people. They said, "We apostles should spend our time preaching and teaching the word of God, not administering a food program." It wasn’t that a food program for the widows was below them it was just not what they needed to do if the church was to continue to grow and reach people. So they made decisions about what they could do and what others should do. They simplified the ministries of the church.

We are reaching a place where our diversity of ministry is at capacity for our leadership and our resources. I know that sounds like I am not trusting God but instead it is a statement of faith that that God has specific things for us to do but has not asked us to do everything. God has not called us to be all things to all people or to do everything. Numbers of people in Sunday School, worship and baptism or the number of programs or ministries does not equal or assure effective ministry and neither does it mean transformed lives. The leaders of this church family both ministers and volunteers must provide direction that will help our church decide what God has called us to do and pursue it. This will mean asking the hard questions, making the hard decisions (firing your preacher-just kidding1) and proceeding with a plan that allows us to simplify our ministry. This will not happen in a year but the process needs to start. Seize the moment.

Strengthen the membership: In Acts 6:2, 4 you see how the leaders sought to incorporate the Word of God –the Scriptures – into the lives of the people. "We apostles should spend our time preaching and teaching the word of God…" (v.2) "Then we can spend our time in prayer and preaching and teaching the word." (v. 4) This was their passion and that was why this was such a concern. Anything that slowed down getting God’s word into peoples lives had to be redirected to someone else. They were commanded to make disciples and that was what they were going to do!

For years I have dreamed of our church having a process where a person can come in the door of our church and we can put that person on a path that will direct them toward becoming a true disciple of Jesus Christ. The result would be that our membership is strengthened spiritually by incorporating the word of God into the individual lives of our church family. I am not interested in just filling time slots with activities but with opportunities to grow as a follower of Jesus Christ. I believe that we have a clear model that was presented to us last year by Carter Shotwell from Dallas. I am anxious to see that implemented on a church wide basis. It is imperative that we know that we are making disciples, to know that a clear process toward a specific goal is developing believers. It is easy to respond to everything that seems good but everything isn’t possible or productive. A spiritually stronger membership will make an impact in our church but also in our community. Seize the moment.

Share the message: Acts 6:7 describes the result of their course correction, "God's message was preached in ever-widening circles. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too." Remember what had been occurring before the disruption? Acts 6:1 says, "…the believers rapidly multiplied…" Because they made some definite changes in priorities they were able to see that continue. They had been told by Jesus to "make disciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:19) and to go to as far "as the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8) to do that. They were sharing the message and nothing was going to restrict them from fulfilling that command.

It is imperative that we effectively share the message of the unconditional love of God with the communities of our world. There is a phrase that I read in Revelation recently in my own Bible reading that is God’s vision for the extent of our sharing the message. It is repeated in Rev. 7:9 and Rev. 14:6. One is a vision of Christians "from every nation, tribe, people and language" standing before God and praising him. The other is a command to go and share the message with persons from "every nation, tribe, people and language". That is a vision I want to see as a continuing reality in our church. I want our church to be a church where lost persons find Christ in our community and where we are extending our outreach effectively to persons throughout the world.

Those who we baptized last year included persons from our Huntington mission and our Hispanic ministry as well as children from our own church family. I am thankful for every one of them because everyone represents a life that was changed. But the place we continue to be lacking is effectively reaching our peers. This starts with who you know and continues throughout the communities of our world. I want us to have the simple knowledge that we are strategically sharing the message and disciples are being made, that we can see those words from Revelation describing people of every nation, tribe, people and language standing before God and we know that we have been part of making that vision a reality because we shared the message! Seize the moment.

Seize the moment: What happened in Acts 6 was a critical moment that could not be ignored. It is amazing to think that the effectiveness of the church hung on what they would do with meeting the needs of some hungry people. Would the leadership ignore the need? Would they stop what they were doing and maintain a food program when there were so many lost persons all around them? They made a critical decision to seize the moment, resolve the concern and keep doing what God wanted them to do.

I cannot say strongly enough what a critical moment we have before us as we open the new building in the next eight weeks. We will have the attention of our community in ways that will not happen again for a long time. One hundred and fifty three year-old churches don’t do what we have done. One hundred and fifty three year-old downtown churches just don’t make the kind of investment and sacrifice you have made! Some from our community will want to just see the new building. Others will want to see what the purpose of the building is. Regardless we will have an opportunity to make an impact on our community that is a moment we can’t treat with anything other than excitement, focus and resolve. We have a critical moment that we must seize and the opportunity to experience a fresh start in so many ways. People want to see the building but it is what will happen there that is the most significant – lives of children will be transformed and as they are transformed our church and community will be as well.

First Baptist Church, This is our time! That means this moment is one that must be seized because it won’t come again. First Baptist Church Jonesboro this is our time! Don’t let it slip away! May we resolve this year to seize the moment that God has given to us and bleed from it all that God desires. "This is our time! Seize the moment!"

Sunday, January 7, 2007

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org